unemployment check this month. with the house set to leave for holiday break this friday, congress has five days left to vote to extend the unemployment compensation program. if lawmakers fail to act, 1.3 million unemployed americans could get their last checks after christmas. the national employment law project estimates another 850,000 americans would run out of state supplemented benefits in the first three months of next year. a white house report estimates 3.6 million more americans could lose their benefits by the end of 2014. so with little time left, lawmakers must act urgently and make it a critical priority if it is to deal with the budget agreement. the debt -- the debate over extending benefits could threaten negotiations over the budget, however, last week as democrats dug their heels in, over an extension, house speaker john boehner suggested he would entertain the argue but argued responsibility lies with the

white house. >> if the president has a plan for extending unemployment benefits, i'd surely entertain looking at it. but the real focus ought to be creating a better environment for our economy and creating more jobs for the american people. that's where the focus is, not more government programs. >> we have a responsibility as american people, people who have played by the rules and lost their job through no fault of their own. and need these benefits in order to survive. >> nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins me. the budget is the critical issue but the debate over extending the unemployment benefits set to threaten all of this and the "washington post" reports there are capitol hill aides who say tlsz little chance of it passing before congress leaves for their break. >> reporter: there's a weariness with so many of these fiscal deadlines we've had. we're talking about unemployment

benefits for the longest term unemployed, people who really have had a hard time for a long time and congress is not necessarily in the mood to make this a line in the sand issue. clearly some democrats want to see action on this to extend the benefits and some republicans do not in part, for example, one point of view from rand paul of kentucky, saying that by extending it, it's actually a disservice because statistically those who are the longest unemployed are the hardest to employ, so pushing them into a category where they may be less attractive to future employers. democrats say there aren't the jobs in what has been a protected recession and that people need this help. there are state level benefits and federal benefits and a smaller number of people who have exhausted all of that who are really at risk for this when it happens. the deadline, december 28th, is it possible it can get rolled into a budget discussion? that is certainly being discussed but the momentum towards seeing this being a

critical part of the discussion has not bubbled up yet. the white house wants to see an extension. democrats are pushing for it. but they are also saying it's possible the big budget issue of keeping the government open to avoid a shutdown, that that would not necessarily have to have this extension to go forward, making it that much harder to make this the kind of critical issue that would make it a must pass kind of thing. >> tamron? >> thank you very much. joining me now, democratic congressman senator levin of michigan, of the house ways and means committee. thank you for your time. >> glad to be with you. >> kelly o'donnell just referred to comments made by rand paul regarding unemployment benefits and how he sees it. let me get your response please, let's play that. >> i do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they are paid for. if you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers. there was a study that came out

and said if you have a worker unemployed for four weeks on unemployment insurance and one on 99 weeks, which would you hire? every employer, nearly 100% said they will always hire the person who has been out of work for weeks. when you allow people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy. >> congressman, your reaction to senator paul saying this is adisservice to workers? >> first of all he has his facts wrong. they are not 99 weeks of coverage. it's down on the average to 5 4 weeks. i really think senator paul really needs to look at the facts and then look at the reality for people who are unemployed, a disservice to them. there are 1,300,000 people who will lose every cent of their benefits while they look for work. a disservice is essentially cutting them off on december 28th. they are looking for a job.

they were laid off through no fault of their own. what do you do? just give them the cold shoulder on december 28th? that's a disservice to humanity in my judgment. >> your committee actually put together numbers that show the states that would be hardest hit. if the benefits are not extended, california would be the hardest hit with more than 214,000 people set to lose benefits. more than 127,000 new yorkers would lies their monthly checks and tens of thousands in florida, pennsylvania, illinois and texas as well. when you look at the map there, these are states many of them that are still struggling to recover from a tough housing market and tough job market and other things that have impacted them. >> absolutely. i just can't believe we're going to leave here in a few days and essentially say to people, you're going to get an empty box in terms of unemployment for the christmas holidays. also, it hurts our economy.

the economists are very clear about this. that when you pay people what they really work for, unemployment insurance, they spend it. so there is the human factor here that there's also the general economic factor why we should extend the program we've never failed to extend the program when there's been this level of long-term unemployed. never, we should not do it now. >> you mentioned the economic factor. the natural question, if this is a line in the sands issue for democrats as you look at the priority of budget negotiations, i wanted to play what dick durbin said when asked about minority leader pelosi's remarks that there would be no deal without extending benefits. let me play it. >> i don't think we've reached that point where we've set this is it, take it or leave it. what i hear from patty murray, i spoke to her the other night, negotiations are making progress, moving in the right direction. they haven't closed the deal.

>> your response, is this a line in the sand when you look forward to budget negotiations if these benefits are not extended? >> it is a line in the sand. and it doesn't necessarily have to be done through the budget negotiations. but i think what we're saying and i think senator durbin and surely the per believe all of us that it has to be done one way or the other. either through the budget negotiations or through another vehicle. you really don't want the wheels to come off in terms of the basic necessities for 1.3 million people and next year if we don't do it, it would be another 1.9 million people and their children, 20,000 veterans. we can't leave here leaving them out in the cold. >> congressman levin, thank you so much for your time today, sir. >> president obama and the first lady are in route to south africa where nearly 90 world leaders are expected to attend

tomorrow's memorial service for nelson mandela. also on air force one, former president george w. bush, his wife laura and former secretary of state hillary clinton. former presidents bill clinton and jimmy carter are traveling separately. the only living president not able to attend george h.w. bush, at 89 can no longer travel such a long distance. it will be held in soweto where nelson mandela made his final public appearance in 2010. ron, you have half of the world's leaders gathering, that stadium seats 95,000. it is an open air and presented significant challenges security wise. >> reporter: yes, there's perhaps not been an event like this ever, dare i say, the most comparable is the funeral of pope john paul ii in 2005 where there was 3 million people and

75 or 80 world leaders who attended. this is going to be an amazing day tomorrow. there's a lot of anticipation already. behind me you can hear people in the streets here still singing and dancing and sell bragt the life of nelson mandela. this has gone on constantly since his death was announced thursday night. they are already starting to shut large parts of this community down. i think that's basically the security solution and approach to the south african government will take. there will be no areas where you can't get near any of these events or near any places where these world leaders are staying. president obama will probably not stay the night and won't be on the ground for a very long time. for a lot of practical considerations, of course security being one of them. we've also had a look at the program tomorrow. the events begins at 11:00 a.m. local time here. 4:00 a.m. in the united states tomorrow morning. supposed to go for four hours.

nelson mandela's grandchildren and fellow political prisoner who spent some 26 years in robin island and number of world leaders including president obama and countries of like brazil, china, nam bid ya and others. tens and thousands of people here to witness this event, a sing you lar moment in history that a lot of people want to be part of it. >> quickly, the seats, the 95,000 seats, how are they allowing the every day person to be able to attend if they are able to get inside? >> reporter: that's a good question. there are no tickets for this events. there are people lining up tomorrow morning trying to get in. just ordinary people, no tickets. all going to happen, going to be a very interesting and practical thing to see. but the -- it's -- they've had big events here at that stadium and there are going to be other stadiums three or four around

johannesburg, where there are big screens set up. it's a security dilemma and security nightmare, hopefully things go smoothly. since the death was announced on thursday night, there has not been any hit hint of violence. people have been conducting themselves in a very mannerly, dignified manner is the way to say it. there are people out here late into the night and be out here early in the morning. and hopefully people will conduct themselves in a dignified manner. just an event tomorrow like none other perhaps the world has ever seen because of just the importance of this man, nelson mandela. >> let me bring in dan rosen thal he was responsible for planning public events around the world. thank you for your time. >> glad to be with you. >> we see just in the live shot from there, people are celebrating mr. mandela's life

and the impact that he made on all of us, but you're looking at the sheer number of people. there's no reason for us to expect there would be any violence, keeping the area secure with 95,000 people half the world leaders in this open air stadium is an incredible sikt as ron pointed out. >> it's an extremely complex undertaking. close to 100 heads of state and government attending and each of those leaders comes a delegat n delegation -- as he alluded to with regards to the stadium, obviously, security concerns that the south african and other security officials will be forced to deal with. >> politico is reporting shortly after the announcement on

thursday that nelson mandela passed away, secret service and american military personnel were en route to prepare for president obama's arrival here. what would you compare this to in events that you worked on? the first thing for me that came in mind watching the pope in south america earlier this year, wherefore whatever reason the motorcade took a wrong turn and there was a ground swell of people who surrounded to greet him, nevertheless presenting a horrifying moment there to see the pope and his vehicle completely surrounded by hundreds of people. >> yes, in my experience the only events that come to mind, the pope's funeral, funeral of princess diana and mother theresa. the ones i worked on in particular that were most

analogous were the funerals of prime minister in israel, which was a very short notice, of course, and tragic event. king hassan in morocco and king husse hussein in jordan. there is an amount of chaos given the complexity of the undertaking and compressed time lines in planning these pieces. in the case of mandela funeral, they have had a number of months to prepare and hopefully many of those logistical details have been worked out so things will run as smoothly as possible. >> thank you for your time and ensight. we greatly appreciate it. >> riot police are lining up throughout the ukrainian capital. this comes a day after a million demonstrators filled the city's independence square taking part

in country's largest anti-government protest in a decade. the protest initially began as a call for the government to move away from russian influence and ally itself closer with the western europe. since evolved into an overall anti-government movement. the boxer ahead of the opposition party posted a message for actor george clooney supporting demonstrators. >> we here in the united states have a great affinity for those seeking democracy. we have learned through trial and error that true democracy cannot exist without a free and fair and honest election. you cannot have a democracy when you arrest and harm its peaceful protesters. >> more than a thousand flights canceled today as the northeast is set to get pounded with another round of winter weather. the snow and ice blamed for a chain reaction, car accident.

this one involving 50 cars. we'll tell you where this happened. and what our first read team says both democrats and republicans could be wrong about what issue will dominate next year's midterm elections. plus -- >> i just don't know how it happened. i really don't. passengers got off and you think somebody would have rubbed me or pushed me, we're here. >> the worst layover ever. a man falls asleep on a plane only to wake up and find he's all alone on the plane. the big question now, how did the flight crew miss this and a large security question here. join our conversation on twitter. people join angie's list for all kinds of reasons. i go to angie's list to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians.

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welcome back, another day of

travel gridlock across the country today. a relentless winter storm stretching from california to new england is wreaking havoc on the roads and air, affecting millions of people and claiming 12 lives. more than 1700 flights have been canceled. that's it's by the way alone, bringing total cancellation since friday to more than 5,000 flights across the country. over the weekend icy and snowy roads created a perfect storm for a massive traffic pileup, including one that included 50 cars in new jersey that killed one man and shut down parts of the highway for seven hours. in northern texas continues to be affected by crippling ice storm now in its fourth day and dallas dozens of schools still closed and 20,000 remain without power. jim can tore is in andover, massachusetts with the latest on the winter weather there. >> you can see out here, a fresh coating of an inch of snow and little slush at this point in

time because now it's 33, 34 degrees in andover, massachusetts. it's getting very slushy. this is interstate 93. traffic going from left to right southbound to boston, other ways heading north towards new hampshire is moving along great. they started rush hour early this morning. they got out in time. we'll have another storm coming our way tomorrow. once again, impacting d.c., baltimore, philly more than up here in boston. we'll be on the northern fringes of this event. >> we've obviously some kind of technical issue here. we apologize for that. i should note that 50-car pileup was in morgantown, pennsylvania. meanwhile as mentioned there are still several hundred flights canceled and tens and thousands of people without power. we'll of course continue to cover that weather storm for you here. still ahead, the controversy

involving three teenagers arrested, accused of letting their friend drive drunk just before she crashed into a tree and died. >> very well knew she was intoxicated and should not have been driving. >> michael smerconish will join ugs to talk about whether the teenagers should have been charged. learned is learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

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unfortunately, i've found that some brokerage firms don't always encourage that kind of relationship. that's why i stopped working at the old brokerage, and started working for charles schwab. avo: what kind of financial consultant are you looking for? talk to us today. welcome back. three friends accused of letting their friend drive drunk. the three 17-year-old boys knew jane was highly intoxicated when she got behind the wheel of an suv after a party over the summer but did nothing to stop her. she was a high school lacrosse star with blood content of 13 times higher than the legal limit when she crashed into a tree and lost her life. two of the boys have been charged with reckless

endangerment and other with violating passenger restrictions. legal experts say charges like these are very rare. joining me now, michael smerconish, i remember when i was a reporter back in the '90s in dallas and one of the first cases where a bartender in a bar was accused of overserving someone and dragged through the legal system over the question of whether or not a bartender should be responsible and how much drinks and what happens after. >> we recognize that duty, the duty on the part of a tavern owner not to overserve a particular pat ron. i never heard of a case like this before. you'd be interested to know that when i discussed it on the radio today, there were folks pro and con. both said it's a matter of personal responsibility. some saying that this driver, the apparently intoxicated young woman who lost her life, she bore all of the responsibility. others saying no, others who

knew she was intoxicated bore responsibility and that it was no different than handing say, a loaded firearm to someone who you knew was drunk. >> well, the juvenile who last drove the vehicle before the young girl got behind the wheel faces charges of second degree reckless endangerment and operating betwea vehicle. and you have the girl who allegedly hosted this gathering, attended by the young girl who died, she was charged back in august of two counts of allowing minors to possess alcohol. it's just an interesting -- i think -- i don't know, michael, the legalities of it. you're an attorney here but i don't know how someone can be held responsible. how wouldthy know if this young girl was 13 times over the legal limit. >> a car load of teenagers and

alcohol, isn't that unfortunately always the deadly mix. as you point out, tamron, they dropped each other off one at a time until all of a sudden the last two got out. you're right, this is the critical issue for law enforcement and the prosecution. can they show that these two knew that she was so well beyond her limit -- >> i have to tell you what i found to be significant in this case. this community is only comprised of 34,000 people. they lost six teenagers in traffic accidents just since last may. so the police are at a point where they are saying, what else can we possibly do to drive home the message to young people about the risk they face? >> one attorney, lawrence taylor, the author of the book drunk driving defense said you cannot be prosecuted because you did not stop someone from engaging in criminal conduct. if someone is holding a gun and is about to shoot it and you don't pull it out of their hand, you cannot be held accountable.

i think the police are overreaching. jonathan sill says for this case to progress it has to be the boys knew the person was drunk and that they knew the accident would happen. so there's a standard of proof that is very, very high. it would be very difficult for the state to say one of the boys' conduct actually caused the accident. other thing you're a parent, i thought about, how much responsibility is on the shoulder of the parent who some people if they want to be cynical would say why didn't you teach your kid not to overindulge and underage drink, if we're going to go that route of who's responsible. >> i'm not saying it's an easy case but i don't agree with the analogies the way they were presented. i won't say it's an individual with a gun in his hand. to the extent this driver got out and leaves her the keys, he's handing the gun or it's someone who's intoxicated and now going for a swim in the ocean and you're giving them the bathing suit. you're facilitating.

the prosecution is saying you're facilitating the process that puts them on this deadly sbiral. i don't know they'll be successful but they send that community a message and all of us at the same time. >> absolutely, to your point it's a very sad story, young girl has lost her life and you have six teenagers in the small town of 34,000 who died in car crashes this summer. it is an eye opening case. thank you, michael. >> okay, tamron. >> still ahead, craigslist murder and iraq war vet killed after trying to buy his parents an ipad for christmas. the two teenager now charged. blaming the victim, madoff says the investors he cheated out of millions should have quote, known better. it is one of the things we thought you should know. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief.

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welcome back, the unemployment rate ticking down to 7% and a number coupled with the dow hitting 16,000 for first time ever suggests the u.s. economy is finally healing. and it could prove to be an important issue, of course for democrats next year despite the rocky rollout of healthcare.gov. our first read team puts it this way, six months from now vulnerable democratic senators and gop governors could have a positive message to tell next year to constituents that backed up by the facts the economy is getting better and better each month. joining me live now, nbc news senior political editor mark murray and clair voiant because we're looking how this is playing out. it is intriguing to see what will help those who are perhaps in a lot of trouble. >> it is pretty clear when you're looking ahead to the 2014

midterm, so much analysis and thought has been talked about the president's health care law or republicans shut down back in october. not a lot of attention has been paid to the economy. when you look at the story of the economy over the past year, even over the past 24 months, things are getting much better. it isn't out of the realm of possibility to envision a situation which come the summer or even fall of 2014, the unemployment rate is close to 6%, and you end up having another 2 to 2.5 million jobs created in 2014. that could help a whole lot of incumbents, democrat and republican and boost the president's approval ratings and also end up helping republican governors who might be vulnerable now but point to good economic data when they are up for re-election next year. >> debbie wasserman shultz was on msnbc discussing the job growth. >> we have already seen we've had 45 straight months of job growth thanks to president obama

and democrat policies. we need to kick that even into higher gear when it comes to the economy and the republicans have been contributing to our ability to kick it in higher gear. >> so when we look down the line here, i think it's always obvious that the economy or jobs will rule the day. we've had this conversation with zachary karabell, he notes in his analysis as a business writer, that the low unemployment numbers perhaps that people saw in the past will no longer exist as this jobs market change and kind of work and skilled work you need doesn't exist, for example, like in detroit. >> it's important to know even though we've had good economic news and we are far from full employment. there are a lot of people out of work for a very long time. with the labor market changing significantly and productivity changed and jobs and industries have changed and that's created a lot of uncertainty and that

led to polls where people say they don't think the country is heading the right direction. and that has contributed to a lot of pessimism. but there is a lot of economic data now out there that suggests that pessimism isn't matching up with the economic performance we've seen over the past 12 months. i think that's significant in the political lens as well. >> greatly appreciate you joining us. we'll see you tomorrow. >> the supreme court is considering whether airlines have legal immunity when they report potential security threats to the tsa. the justices heard argument in the case of a pilot who was removed in flight after the airline he worked for reported concerns about his mental state. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins us. this is such an interesting case for many reasons here. but explain to us at least the back story of how it got to the justices. >> well, the pilot at the center of the case who flew for air wisconsin airways was a

passenger on that plane. he was headed home after failing repeatedly simulator tests to be able to fly an upgraded airplane. he claims he was selt up by people at air wisconsin that wanted him to fail for whatever reason when he failed the test the last time, he ripped off his head saet and yelled at the instructor and they had words. the airline eventually told tsa that he was mentally unstable. they also said that because he was a pilot in the program of pilots who were certified to carry guns, they didn't know whether he had his gun with him. when tsa heard all of this. the plane he was on taxiing getting ready for takeoff, came back to the gate and federal agents took him off. he eventually sued air wisconsin for defamation and won $1.5 million. the airline told the supreme court today if his verdict stands, it's going to make other airlines reluctant to follow the rule if you see something, say something. there is a federal law that says

airlines should report suspicious behavior and if they do it in good faith, they cannot be sued. the question is, how do you know when someone acted not in good faith. i think the tricky part for the supreme court, while they recognize that mr. hoper probably got a raw deal from air wisconsin, they don't want to come up with a ruling that would prevent airlines from reporting suspicious behavior. >> thank you very much. greatly appreciate it. still ahead the sentence is in for former san diego mayor bob filner after he pleaded guilty to harassing several women. what he said in court today. plus -- >> i woke up and i was like, looked up at the ceiling and saw the lights were out and looked down the aisle and nobody was home. >> a passenger ends up locked on a plane. how do this happen and does this

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an intd family is mourning the loss of and iraq war veteran killed when trying to buy an ipad as a christmas parent for his parents. jim investor was reportedly lured into a robbery attempt by a fake ard for an ipad on craigslist. he was killed in broad daylight. police have arrested two brothers in connection with the murder. investigative prime reporter, also a correspondent on my show, "deadline crime" on investigation discovery. i could not believe this. it sounds like he did everything that you're supposed to do, meet someone in broad daylight, public place and this happens. >> it really is horrific. within the last hour i spoke with the prosecutor's office and

two brothers have been arrested. they tell me that although they were arrested on preliminary charges, ages 18 and 19, formal charges will be filed later on, possibly murder and robbery charges. we'll have to wait to see how it pans out. they are expected in court tomorrow morning at 8:35, 9:00 a.m. according to a spokesperson. as for the victim in this case, this is horrible. i spoke with the indiana national guard as well this morning and they say he was working as a mechanic and technician there. he is also part of the sermonial group and goes out for funerals. >> he served in the indiana national guard for 12 years, including a year-long tour of duty in iraq. his wife jamie and 1-year-old son gave vin must move ahead without him. it's absolutely devastating. but i guess when you hear something like this, you would think a lot of people might be

tempted to go online or see an advertisement somewhere and this is not to focus on craigslist but in general, you think someone there is prepared to take advantage. in this case according to police, take your life. >> yes, absolutely. you know, i think that's the most disturbing part. allegedly here is someone trying to make a purchase and save a couple of dollars and trying to buy the parents something nice. the police would not comment specifically on the purchase because of the ongoing investigation. the probable cause affidavit has not been handed down yet. but this again goes for anyone making these sorts of purchases online. they say meet in broad daylight, meet in a public place. sometimes you want to bring someone along with you. in this case this is someone who served a year in iraq. this is a war veteran, not someone who thought he needed to bring someone with him to make any purchase at all. he probably felt very safe even

though this was not a good part of town. as you mentioned, leaves behind a beautiful wife and their son and there is a you caring page that as i checked this morning, more than $70,000 in donations have been made. also, the services held for james did happen earlier today. he was laid to rest. you can see that page on the screen right now. $72,000, that's wonderful, especially for his family left behind. >> he was described as a loving father and faithful man. go to u caring.com. they are raising money for his wife and their 1-year-old son gavin. we appreciate you getting those details on the investigation. >> thank you. >> families of the newtown victims speak ahead and that tops our look at stories around the news nation. family members said they have created a website called my sandy hook family.org that will be dedicated to sharing memories

of their lost ones, lost loved ones as well as providing links to various charities. >> we ask that you consider performing an act of kindness or volunteering with a charitable organization in your own local community. we hope that some small measure of good may be returned to the world. >> bernie madoff says the investors he stole billions from in the pon di scheme should have known better. they were sophisticated people and knew about his fraud and were complicit in the scene. he is calling his life laid back, compared to being at camp. a louisiana man fell aslip while flying and woke up in the middle of his layover in texas to find that he was locked

inside an empty plane. tom wagner said the crew of united express flight left him in the plane and he even had to call his girlfriend to get someone to get him out. >> where's your badge? dude, i don't work here. i'm a passenger on this airplane. and he says, hold on, hold on. he didn't believe it. i don't know how it happened. i really don't. passengers got off and think somebody would have pushed me, we're here. >> the airline said it is investigating and also would not refund his ticket but gave him a hotel room for the night and provided him with a $250 voucher to help wagner complete his journey. still ahead, a family fighting their city council to keep an unusual pet that helps their son with autism. it's our "news nation" gut check. you've got to see this one. avo: the volkswagen "sign then drive sales event is back.

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there's a lot going on today. heerds some things we thought you should know. bob filner was sentenced to three months of home confinement and three years probation for his repeatedly sexual harassment towards women. he pleaded guilty in october to kissing or grabbing three women. filner issued an apology. >> i want to apologize to my family who have stood by me through this ordeal. to my loyal staff and supporters, to the citizens of san diego and most sincerely to the women who i have hurt and offended. >> visitors to the smithsonian's national air and space museum in washington found themselves in the middle of a flash mob involving the u.s. air force band. it started with single chelist and other members of the band

shed their coats and joined in. it ended with 120 members performing -- take a look. ♪ >> there you have it. nice showing there. so sweet. those are the things we thought you should know. would have been so cool to be there. time for the "news nation" gut check, a young florida boy with autism and his parents are fighting to keep an unusual therapy pet that they say has been helping their son. nbc's kerry sanders has more. >> are you ready to see snow? >> reporter: meet 3-year-old jj, like most kids, he loves to run around the backyard. something that does set him apart, jj has autism. his parents ashley and joe said

he used to stare off into space and barely speak and have temper tantrums. >> you're okay. >> he's been in therapy from the age of 14 months up until six months ago. he was getting physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy. >> reporter: all with limited success. ashley and joe wanted to try a more natural try. as an experiment they brought home chickens hoping their eggs would help and that's when something remarkable happened. jj connected with the chickens and a whole new boy emerged. >> as unconventional as it sounds and i know it does because we're not chicken people, it worked for him. >> reporter: but now the harts are facing a terrible dilemma the city of florida where they live says they have to get rid of the chickens, city order yenss don't allow them. >> your chickens are gone december 31st 2013. >> reporter: it's a half hour's drive from orlando and the

website said it's known for warm and friendly hometown atmosphere a community that emphasizes quality of life. >> motion was -- >> reporter: a year ago they went to the city council and asked to be allowed to keep their chickens and they were encouraged with the council said yes, sort of, adopting a one year pilot project. >> to extend the pilot program for two years. >> reporter: but last week that trial program came up for another vote. >> i support this 110% and i support jj 100%. this is not about j.j. this is about chickens. >> the proposal failed. >> no longer are you allowed to have chickens. >> reporter: the harts are devastated but will continue to fight so that j.j. can keep his beloved birds. >> he's got a great personality and now he's got a personality that we never thought we would see.

people can support us or they can criticize. that's fine. but we know what we're doing is best for our son. we're going to fight for him. >> reporter: kerry sanders nbc news, miami. >> what does your gut tell you? should j.j. be able to keep his therapy chickens? newsnation.msnbc.com to cast your vote. i'm tamron hall. up next, abby's dad, jon huntsman, joins "the cycle." people don't have to think about where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. generating electricity that's cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions-- it matters.

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delivering an early punch. mourning monandela. i'm luke russert in for tour'e this week, we're on the ground in south africa to honor the man who laid the groundwork for an entire generation. >> sports and sports and more sports. luke is here and not talking about the bills but he is talking about the bill for america's favorite past time and who's picking up the tab. you've scored a front row seat with "the cycle." >> president obama is heading to south africa for nelson mandela's memorial service. when he returns, expect him to refocus on what he says is his administration's target for the remainder of his presidency.